


Flowers in My Lungs

by buckyismymainman



Series: DC Comics One Shots [29]
Category: Superman - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hanahaki Disease, Unrequited Love, mentions of dying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:54:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28884207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buckyismymainman/pseuds/buckyismymainman
Summary: You love Clark, but he doesn’t love you and that’s obvious by the flowers growing in your lungs.  And you don’t know if you can survive this.
Relationships: Clark Kent/Reader
Series: DC Comics One Shots [29]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1776175
Kudos: 30





	Flowers in My Lungs

Unrequited love was a dangerous thing.

You should know better than anyone because of the flowers blooming in your lungs. It had started several months ago and you had been horrified the moment you coughed up the first petal. There were little flecks of blood on it and you could have sworn you stopped breathing for several minutes. You knew what it meant, you were in love with someone who didn’t love you back.

You had known Clark for ages and you had tried so hard not to fall for him, but that proved to be difficult. He was sweet and caring and had a heart of gold. He took care of you once when you were sick and you believed that that was when things started to go downhill. You had been a goner.

The way he had sweetly cared for you and made sure you were comfortable. How he had watched your favorite show with you despite the fact that it wasn’t something he was in to. You had felt that ache in your chest and at the time had been praying that the flowers wouldn’t appear.

Everyone knew about the flowers. The phenomenon had been around for ages and some had even died from it. The only way to cure it was to either get the person whom you loved to admit they loved you back or for you to get over them which was easier said than done. Then there were the poor people that never got over their love for another and died. That scared you. You didn’t want to die and thought that this was a cruel fate.

Hiding it from Clark and others in your life was proving to be even more difficult as more and more flowers began to sprout inside you and you coughed up more and more.

You were currently on the way to have lunch with Clark and you were dreading it. Your stomach felt as though it had twisted itself into several knots. When you entered the café where you were meeting Clark the smile he gave you only made your anxiety spark more. He was so excited to see you and you were so afraid that you were going to cough up nearly an entire flower.

Sitting down you said your hellos and ordered your food. Clark noticed that you seemed uncomfortable and he was the one carrying the conversations. “Y/N, is something wrong?”

You squirmed in your seat, you could feel a petal at the back of your throat, “I’m fine.” Short and sweet. 

Clark narrowed his eyes, “No you’re not. I’m your best friend, I can read you like a book.” He put a hand on top of yours. “You know you can tell me anything, Y/N/N.”

Not this. You couldn’t tell him that you had been secretly in love with him for months and were now dying as a result of it. “Please just drop it, Clark.”

He went to say something when your body decided that now was the perfect time to have a coughing fit. Petals flew across the table and Clark froze staring at them and then at you as you tried to breathe. “Who?” He knew what the petals meant.

You looked at him, eyes shining with tears, “You.” Then you stood and fled from the café leaving Clark watching you like an idiot.

You were curled up on your couch crying, both from heartache and pain as you continued to cough up petals. You had hoped that somehow this whole problem would go away and you would be free, but you were never so lucky. If it weren’t for bad luck you’d have no luck at all.

There was a frantic knocking on your door and you managed to drag yourself to your feet and shuffle over. Peeking through the peephole you saw Clark standing there looking more disheveled than you had ever seen him before. “I know you’re there, open the door,” he responded. Stupid x-ray vision.

You pulled the door open and Clark beheld your puffy eyes and the little flecks of blood on your shirt. “What?” You hadn’t meant to snap at him, but you just wanted to be left alone.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because it wouldn’t have made a difference, Clark,” you said. “You only see me as a friend. I’ve tried getting over this, but it’s hard.” You coughed some more and Clark helped you toward the couch. “Just leave me to my misery.”

“I can’t do that,” he said. “I can’t see you going through this and not do something about it.”

“Well then you better start loving me back because that’s the only option I have left,” you told him bluntly.

He cupped your face in his hands, “Y/N, I do love you.”

“If that were true these damn flowers would go away,” you said bitterly. “You love me as a friend, and that’s all. And that’s fine Clark, I’m not going to guilt you into loving me. That wouldn’t be fair to either of us.” Sighing you said, “I think we should see less of one another. I can’t keep doing this, and I don’t know if I want to see you right now.”

“Y/N–” He closed his mouth and nodded. “All right, if you think that’s best.” He stood and paused before heading for your door, “I’m sorry.”

You shook your head, “It’s not your fault Clark.”

That was the last time you saw Clark. The doctors were able to help slow the process of the flowers and your heart healed and they went away. 

One time when you were on the street you saw Clark walking on the other side. He was easy to pick out and you smiled. You missed him, but you weren’t ready to reach out to him just yet. You still needed time before going back to him. 

One day, you told yourself. But today was not that day.


End file.
